Ezekiel 20 · The Lantern

Israel’s Rebellion in Egypt

And it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Then came the word of the LORD to me, saying,

Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

And say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to them, saying, I am the LORD your God;

In the day that I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

Then said I to them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the pagans, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

Israel’s Rebellion in the Wilderness

Therefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the pagans, in whose sight I brought them out.

Yet also I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

Nevertheless my eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

But I said to their children in the wilderness, Walk you not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;

And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

However the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the pagans, in whose sight I brought them forth.

I lifted up my hand to them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the pagans, and disperse them through the countries;

Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

Therefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;

We hold, then, that the law has a twofold sense—the one literal, the other spiritual—as has been shown by some before us. Of the first or literal sense it is said, not by us but by God, speaking in one of the prophets, that "the statutes are not good, and the judgments not good"; whereas, taken in a spiritual sense, the same prophet makes God say that "his statutes are good, an…

[Israel] received statutes that were not good and commandments that were altogether evil whereby it should not live but should be punished through them.

God finds fault with the commandments of the Old Testament, for he says, "I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life," because of their hardness of heart.

And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

Israel’s Rebellion in the Land

Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

For when I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink offerings.

Then I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? And its name is called Bamah to this day.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD; Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit you prostitution after their abominations?

For when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols, even to this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, that you say, We will be as the pagans, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

Judgment and Restoration

As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:

And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, says the Lord GOD.

And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the LORD.

As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD; Go you, serve you every one his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me: but pollute you my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the pagans.

And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.

And there shall you remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have worked with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O you house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.

A Prophecy against the South

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Does he not speak parables?